Sunday, October 24, 2010

Conn. tech schools mark 100-year anniversary - Boston.com

Conn. tech schools mark 100-year anniversary

October 24, 2010

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HARTFORD, Conn.—The Connecticut vocational trades education program whose earliest schools opened during William Howard Taft's presidency is marking its centennial.

The Connecticut Technical High School System is celebrating its 100th anniversary with activities statewide, including an event Friday in Southington with speeches and awards.

The system currently has 17 high schools, but started in 1910 with trade schools in New Britain and Bridgeport.

Students had eight-hour school days Monday through Saturday, year around. Classes ranged from clockmaking to hat finishing, focusing on businesses

GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS

Respect on both sides in Natick iPod debate

A vote this week by the Natick School Committee to ban the use of MP3 players in academic areas of the high school was a disappointment to students who lobbied against the policy, the student who spearheaded the lobbying effort said. (By Megan McKee, Globe Correspondent)

City program is honored at White House

A Boston program aimed at reducing the dropout rate for city public school students who are not fluent in English was one of 15 programs nationwide to receive the 2010 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award yesterday. (By Cara Bayles, Globe Correspondent)

Newton’s Russian school and Kumon classes prepare math students

Manny Daphnis, a Bristol Community College professor from Brockton, makes the hourlong drive to Newton every week to bring his 6-year-old son, Hakeem, to the Russian School of Mathematics. (By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff)

Man stabbed outside MIT student center

An argument between two restaurant workers inside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology student center turned violent yesterday afternoon, when one man stabbed the other in the stomach, Cambridge police said.(By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Staff)

Quinsigamond Community College, Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School explore partnership

Aiming to bring more higher education options to the Marlborough region, Quinsigamond Community College and Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School are exploring a partnership to share space and curriculum offerings. (By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff)

Fred Klonsky's blog

And Now This Week's addition of "The Wall" by Fred Klonsky

Daily Kos: State of the Nation

A sign of the times

by brooklynbadboy

Sun Oct 24, 2010 at 08:00:03 AM PDT

Enter any bookstore today and you will likely see a sign for Mitt Romney's bookNo Apology, The Case for American Greatness. America is great if you're Mitt Romney and he's not about to apologize for how great things are for him. I don't understand why he got to write a book about it.

Go to Google and enter the words "political book deal." You will learn that the inconsequential dropout former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, recently signed another multi-million dollar book deal. You will see that Scott Brown had a been a Senator for about 30 days before getting his own book deal. Mitt Romney has a book deal. Gov. Bobby Jindal has a book deal. President Obama's half-brother George has a book deal. Yes, even Rod Blagojevich has a book deal. On and on and on. Name any politician, no matter how great or awful as a public servant. Chances are, they've got a million-dollar book deal.

I find it interesting that very few politicians actually write the book before they get the deal. I'm not a writer, but I assume that most book writers create their manuscripts in some lonely cottage in New England. Or maybe they are doing research and putting in hours within the tombs of some major library. But if you happen to be a politician, you don't have to have a particularly literary bent. Hell, you don't even have to write the book! They have people for that. You just show up to take the cover art photograph, go home with a check, and wait for the tour schedule. Must be nice to be able to get rich selling something you

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

The Wall. � Fred Klonsky's blog

The Wall.

from Fred Klonsky's blog by preaprez

What would Disney learn in school today? — Joanne Jacobs

What would Disney learn in school today?

by Joanne

What Would Walt Disney Learn in School Today? In Teacher Magazine, Anthony S. Colucci suggests that our schools “would shun minds similar to those of Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and Walt Disney.”

Would we give (Disney) an outlet to express his creativity or, better yet, foster it? What would his school day consist of? Would he draw a sketch of Mickey Mouse, only to be ridiculed by his teacher because he should have been practicing his times tables?
I am sure that in today’s high-stakes testing environment, Disney’s creativity would be stifled by countless hours of basic reading instruction. He might not even have an art class due to funding shortfalls and a resulting budget that clearly places the arts at the bottom of the priority list.

Short-sighted administrators reject “critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem solving” as “fluff,” writes

Students, teachers at L.A.'s Roosevelt High protest truancy ticketing policy [Updated] | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

Students, teachers at L.A.'s Roosevelt High protest truancy ticketing policy [Updated]

October 20, 2010 | 2:40 pm

About 50 rain-soaked students and teachers rallied Wednesday outside Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights to call for an end to the tardy and truancy ticketing policy.

Organizers said the system costs families hundreds of dollars and keeps students out of school.

Schools with large Latino populations, such as Roosevelt, have been unfairly targeted by police during early-morning sweeps near campuses, said Manuel Criollo of the Community Rights Campaign, which organized the rally.

He said students are issued tickets of about $250 for first-time offenders, $350 for second-time offenders and $900 for third-time offenders.

If offenders refuse or are unable to pay the fines, they could have their driver's licenses suspended. Many low-income students caught on their way to school are stuck with fines that are a burden to them and their families.

“This discourages students from going to school," Criollo said. "They often say when we’re runnin

Obama meets Steve Jobs in “Apple Summit.” | Nowt News

Obama meets Steve Jobs in “Apple Summit.”

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Steve Jobs is not a political guy. Apple Computer, Steve Jobs’s mega-corporation, is not a political company. In fact, Jobs and Apple are about as a-political as they ever could be. Apple does maintain an office in Washington, D.C., employing four lobbyists and providing them with a budget of just under $350,000 per quarter. That staff and budget barely would cover the cost of receptionists and tour guides at Microsoft’s Washington suites.

Despite his aversion to politics, Apple CEO Steve Jobs met yesterday with President Obama, their first face-to-face since a brief encounter during Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters, “They discussed American competitiveness and education, especially reforms such as the President’s Race to the Top initiative,” According to other reports, Jobs and Obama also discussed energy independence and job-creation, issues close to both of their hearts. Neither the White House nor Apple released further details of their talks, which were characterized as “friendly and productive”

Apple needs support in DC.
Despite its command of new wireless technology and American consumer electronics markets, especiall

Reading Between the Lines About Small Schools - Walt Gardner's Reality Check - Education Week

Reading Between the Lines About Small Schools

By Walt Gardner on October 20, 2010 8:11 AM | 5 Comments |

(Second of a three-part series this week on innovative schools.)

Press releases are known for accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative in order to mold public opinion. So it came as no surprise when I received news marked for immediate release on Oct. 15 from the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Datelined Washington D.C., the Alliance reported on an MDRC study titled "Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City's New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates." MDRC is a nonpartisan research group dedicated to improving programs that affect the poor. The study looked at 21,000 students, nearly half of whom attended small schools and the rest attended larger and older schools.

Despite the title of the study, the release focused almost exclusively on data about graduation rates. There was nothing about standardized test scores

Teachers in the US face mounting challenges - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Teachers in the US face mounting challenges

By Lourdes Santos Tancinco
INQUIRER.netFirst Posted 12:26:00 10/24/2010Filed Under: Migration, Overseas Employment, Education, Americas - Canada

Charter Schools, Test Scores, and Skimming the Cream : Mike the Mad Biologist

Charter Schools, Test Scores, and Skimming the Cream

Category: Conservatives • Education
Posted on: October 24, 2010 10:11 AM, by Mike

A dirty secret of charter school 'success' is that they typically transfer ~~their poorly-performing students~~ the students they fail to educate to public schools. Consequently, charter schools are able to claim better test scores than regular public schools (clearly, ethics aren't on the charter school agenda....). It's been a problem in Boston and Bay Area charters in California.

A letter to Diane Ravitch from a Los Angeles school prinicipal documents just how dishonest and harmful this practice is (italics mine):

I received an email from Dr. DeWayne Davis, the principal of Audubon Middle School in Los Angeles, which was sent to several public officials. Dr. Davis said that local charter schools were sending their low-performing students to his school in the middle of the year. He wrote:
"Since school began, we enrolled 159 new students (grades 7 and 8). Of the 159 new students, 147 of them are far below basic (FBB)!!! Of the 147 students who are FBB, 142 are from charter schools. It is ridiculous that they can pick and choose kids and pretend that they are raising scores when, in fact, they are purging nonperforming students at an alarming rate--that is how they are raising their scores, not by improving the performance of students. Such a large number of FBB students will handicap the growth that the Audubon staff initiated this year, and further, will negatively impact the school's overall scores as we continue to receive a recurring

New Jersey governor and teachers union chief wage public battle | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

New Jersey governor and teachers union chief wage public battle

By Monica Langley - The Wall Street Journal | Published: 9:46 AM 10/24/2010

TRENTON, N.J.—He says she’s a “greedy thug” who uses children as “drug mules.” She says he’s a “bully” and a “liar” who’s “obsessed with a vendetta.”

Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, and Barbara Keshishian, president of the state’s teachers union, say they want to improve public schools. That’s where agreement ends. In speeches, mailings and multi-million dollar TV ads, they’ve battled over teacher salaries, property taxes and federal education grants. They have met once, an encounter that ended when Mr. Christie threw Ms. Keshishian out of his office.

For Mr. Christie, 48 years old, the fight is part policy, part personality. He quickly has positioned himself as a politician in tune with an angry and impatient electorate, and he’s already mentioned as a 2012

Departing D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee offers tough advice in Tampa - St. Petersburg Times

Departing D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee offers tough advice in Tampa

By Tom Marshall, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, October 22, 2010

Michelle Rhee, the outgoing chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools, speaks to urban school administrators during a panel on teacher evaluations at the Council of Great City Schools conference in Tampa on Thursday.

TAMPA — Call her a one-woman wrecking crew, a miracle worker, or the quintessential "mean girl" in American education reform. Call her what you want; Michelle Rhee doesn't mind.

"Be prepared to be Ms. or Mr. Unpopular," the outgoing chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools told an audience of urban school administrators here Thursday. "I am really good at this one right now."

Three years ago, Rhee launched a whirlwind of change: a tough evaluation system and teacher contract that resulted in 241 firings this spring, and ultimately may oust 25 percent of the district's teachers from their jobs. Those forces led to her resignation last week, following the election defeat of her boss, Mayor Adrian Fenty. But they brought applause from her audience at theCouncil of Great City Schoolsconference.

On another panel in the adjoining room, Hillsborough County superintendent MaryEllen Elia was describing a kinder, gentler strategy to reach what is rapidly becoming a

OpEdNews - Article: New school year, old troubles: Education and politics in California

New school year, old troubles: Education and politics in California

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opednews.com

For OpEdNews: Michael Babich - Writer

With a new school year underway and yet another election season upon us, let's remind ourselves how these two events are linked. Aside from the obvious issue of funding education, there are also regulations, mandates, and controls passed by our elected officials. Unfortunately, the report card continues to disappoint.

According to studies from the Pacific Research Institute, the National Center for Educational Statistics, California State University, and other educational agencies, 40% of US students must enroll in remedial classes to provide skills in reading, writing and math.

The numbers are worse for California. A CSU report showed that only 44% of incoming freshmen were sufficiently proficient in reading and math. In addition, even though 60% of incoming freshmen have earned a "B" or better grade average in a college preparatory curriculum, about 60% of college-bound students still require some form of remediation.

Why aren't we demanding an explanation, and eventual solution, for the discrepancy between

Social networking: Manatee teachers union fights website rules | HeraldTribune.com

Manatee teachers union fights website rules

By Christopher O'Donnell

Published: Sunday, October 24, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 11:29 p.m.

MANATEE COUNTY - A local teachers union is taking on the Manatee School District over its plan to restrict how teachers use the Internet and social networking sites like Facebook in their personal time.

TEACHERS:

Lawsuit threats in Manatee over district's
social networking policy

Manatee Education Association leaders this week filed a complaint with the state asking it to rule against the proposed policy.

They are also threatening to sue the district in civil court if the policy is enacted, arguing that the rules violate a teacher's right to privacy and free speech.

The proposed policy prohibits teachers from communicating with students through sites like

Schools Matter: Christie Halts State-Approved Construction Projects in Poorest Neighborhoods

Christie Halts State-Approved Construction Projects in Poorest Neighborhoods

by Jim Horn

His Lardness continues to act in the interests of corporations and their foundations to shut down public education in poor neighborhoods in favor of cheap segregated charter test camps without libraries or the other resources that are standard for public schools in the leafy suburbs. As a result of litigation that goes back 20 years, New Jersey over the past decade had finally begun to address the criminal neglect of poor schools that was documented for the public by Jonathan Kozol in 1992 in Savage Inequalities. Now that effort to establish some equity is in jeopardy.

As the video report by NJN shows, one of those schools scheduled for replacement was a hundred year old relic

Watch Diane Ravitch, Wayne Au, Jesse Hagopian & Dora Taylor in “Race to Where?” a Seattle Ed 2010 forum on the misdirection of ed reform, now online! | Seattle Education 2010

Watch Diane Ravitch, Wayne Au, Jesse Hagopian & Dora Taylor in “Race to Where?” a Seattle Ed 2010 forum on the misdirection of ed reform, now online!

by seattleducation2010

Here is the footage of our Oct. 5 forum on ed reform: “Race to Where?” featuring Dr. Diane Ravitch (Skyped in from her home in New York), Wayne Au of Rethinking Schools, Jesse Hagopian, teacher and founder of Social Equality Educators (SEE), and Seattle Ed’s own Dora Taylor. Seattle University’s Dr. Jodi Kelly introduces the event, while I moderate. The panel discussion is followed by a Q&A with the audience.

The footage of the 90-minute forum, held at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium, is divided into 7 parts of roughly 14 minutes each.

It was a terrific event that attracted over 250 parents, teachers and administrators for an engaging, if sometimes

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